Five or Flop: the Best (and Worst) Historical Fiction Has to Offer
Welcome to Five or Flop, a podcast for the best (and worst) historical fiction has to offer! Each week, we'll be reading and reviewing a different historical fiction book on a scale from flop to five. Make sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates! Have a book you want us to read? Send us a recommendation: https://forms.gle/1JroxLkK157zpa9N8
Watching Wuthering Heights: I Think I'm Gonna Flop in This House
BONUS EPISODE TIME! Breaking genre and changing course from historical fiction, we recently watched the new Wuthering Heights movie and have a few thoughts...
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here...
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell: The Last Duke of Flopara
Welcome to the official end of season five! We've saved Erin's pick for last, and this week we're revisiting a beloved pod author to discuss The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season...
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant: Jacob and His Twelve Flops
The end of the season is approaching, so it's Grace and Erin's turn to pick the books! Grace is up first, and we're traveling all the way back to Biblical times with The Red Tent.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our...
The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas: Agnes T. Flop
This week, we are joined by Jen Traver to discuss The Persian Pickle Club! We chat female friendship, murder, and quilts. All the good stuff!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it...
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a Flop
Grace's mom has selected a hugely important work of American literature for us to read this week: Gone with the Wind. As Erin reads for the first time and Grace revisits, they both discuss the book's good and bad qualities and whether it is worth our time ninety years later.
Is Gone With the Wind Still Relevant Today? by Ann Edelstein
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine...
The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore: A Journey to San Flopcisco
This week, we're inviting friend and former roommate Spencer to discuss The Paper Daughters of Chinatown! Will this book live up to our expectations? Will there be an implied Magic Treehouse crossover? Who's to say!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our...
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: House Arrest at Hotel Flop
Hannah from our Love in the Time of Cholera episode is back, and we're discussing A Gentleman in Moscow! Will this have a better chance at a five than Love in the Time of Cholera?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our...
Circe by Madeline Miller: Exiled to Flop Island
Jen from Season Four is back, and we're discussing Circe! Now we'll have read both of her books- which do we like more?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here: https...
Brazil-Maru by Karen Tei Yamashita: Floptail Hour
Santiago and his themed cocktails are back, and we're reading Brazil-Maru by Karen Tei Yamashita! But will the drinks be the best part of the episode?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find...
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See: Fishing for Flops
We're returning to a classic pod author this week, as Grace's friend Kate Weis picks The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See! Will she keep up her streak as Erin's favorite pod author?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season...
Silence by Shusaku Endo: Flopostasy
We're putting the family in Family and Friends this week when Grace's brother Nick comes on to talk about Silence by Shusaku Endo! Which of the three film adaptations should we watch?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: Epistolary Novels Are Not a Flop
Returning guest Kat joins us to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, as well as to share a salacious story or two! But the biggest question: Has she joined the season five Storygraph reading challenge?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!<...
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver: The Gospel of Flop
Grace and Erin are alone in the studio this week, discussing a recommendation from Erin's friend Ryleigh: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here: https...
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell: The Four United Flops
Data Scientist Ashley is here again, with a book she's been recommending since season one! We sat down to talk with her about it, and not even technical glitches could stop us!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading...
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon: Flop in a Box
We're bringing the family back to Friends and Family: Erin's mom, Pam, joins us with a book from her book club, The Frozen River! Are feminist themes, a real historical document, and a shocking ending enough to thaw our hearts?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the...
Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie: The Flop of a Ka-Priest
While we travel back to ancient Egypt this week for a murder mystery, Kate C. joins us this week as our guest and Agatha Christie expert! Where does this book rank on her list of books read? And will we be watching an adaptation of this one?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram...
The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: The Third Amendment Is Not a Flop
Previous guest Diana returns to discuss a book she's read before: The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave! We travel to France to discuss the famous dancing plague, as well as feminism, race, class, and bees.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
...
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Houston, We Have a Flop
For the second episode (and first book) of season five, guest host Kelly joins us on a journey to space with Taylor Jenkins Reid's Atmosphere! All of us have personal histories with TJR and the space program, so tune in for a fantastic discussion!
*Thank you for bearing with us through some of this episode's audio problems!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
...
The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson: Badass Feminists, Badass Flops
We're back, baby! Season five is here, and our theme is Family and Friends. We're reading historical fiction recommendations from our number 1 fans! In this episode, we're taking the stage and reading our first play: The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson. Erin's cousin Elizabeth is joining for the discussion, and she's got a special connection to this one! Listen to learn more.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. <...
Reviewing The Handmaiden: Our Final Flop Film
For the last bonus episode before season five begins, we're watching The Handmaiden, the Korean adaptation of Fingersmith!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here: https://rb.gy/2qehsn
...
Watching The Color Purple: No Flops Here!
We're back to movies, watching the musical version of The Color Purple! Somehow, Whoopi Goldberg is still here?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here: https://rb.gy/2qehsn
...
The Five or Flop Awards: Ranking Four Seasons of Prizewinners
Over the seasons, Grace and Erin have read a lot of award-winning novels, from the Pulitzer, to the Booker, to the... British Fantasy Award? Now, it's time to decide who deserved the honor!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season...
Watching The Letter: The Flopverse of W. Somerset Maugham
For our first bonus episode following Season Four, we're diving back into The Letter cinematic universe and watching the Bette Davis movie! Do we recommend it? Well, that's up to interpretation.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading...
The Color Purple by Alice Walker: Season Four Has Finished Flopping
It's the big season finale this week, and we're reading The Color Purple! We look back on the highs and lows of the season, but first we have a discussion about how classics age and what to do when an author betrays the themes of their most famous work.
Here is the article Grace cites: Fact and Fiction in Alice Walker's The Color Purple, by Jacqueline Jones.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it...
Jews Queers Germans by Martin Duberman: The Most Notorious Flop on the Pod
We're walking a thin genre line in today's episode - come with us as we explore Jews Queers Germans by Martin Duberman!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading Challenge...
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: Fine or Flop?
We're discussing our two favorite topics this week- pacing and plot twists- as we read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading Challenge on StoryGraph: http...
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia: Everything’s Flop Babe
We're excited to introduce a new subgenre to the pod this week with our first mystery novel! Find out the person, place, and weapon in this week's episode on Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod...
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng: Flopping on the Veranda
We're crossing decades and oceans this week, and juggling tons of real-life historical figures: we're reading The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four...
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: Flop Dog Stands
We're two-thirds of the way through Season 4, and this week is a big one: we're reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides! The book covers a lot of ground, we have a lot of thoughts, and the historical accuracy section is a lot longer than usual!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us...
Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta: Flopping in a Feminist Modern Way
Cantoras, Part 2? Grace and Erin disagree over this week's book, Under the Udala Trees, but we're excited to return to an era we previously visited in Season 2!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join...
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall: Premise Five, Practice Flop
This week, we tackle our romance pick for the season: A Lady for a Duke, a classic historical romance with an LGBTQ+ twist!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading...
Cantoras by Caro de Robertis: Erin's Flight Flops Again
Erin's back from Ireland with another plane story, Grace's AC is on full blast, and we have a new book and a new era on deck: Cantoras by Caro de Robertis, set in 1970s Uruguay!
Note: Erin was correct in the episode! The Thirty Names of Night did win the Stonewall Book Award in 2021.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four...
Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel: How Do You Say Flop in French?
It's a special week, not only because we're reading Daughters of the Deer, but because we are joined by a special guest host: Jen! Will this episode be streamed more than Love in the Time of Cholera? Let's find out!
The queer indigenous language source cited by Erin in the historical accuracy section can be found here: https://queerlanguage.com/2018/12/20/queer-indigenous-language-and-identity-north-america/
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine...
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue: Finally Free From Flops
We're off to Ireland (and so is Erin) this week, reading The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue! Hopefully, Erin doesn't catch the Spanish flu while she's there.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
<...The Persian Boy by Mary Renault: Alexander the Flop
This week, Erin confronts an old enemy when we read Mary Renault's The Persian Boy, the second in her Alexander the Great trilogy.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading...
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar: An Unprecedented Number of Flops in NYC
In this episode, we're headed to both Syria AND Little Syria with The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar! We hope you like birds, because there certainly are an unprecedented number of them.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for...
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher: Camelflop
We're back this week with another audiobook and another Grace and Erin disagreement: it's Arthurian legend time, and we're reading Gwen and Art Are Not in Love!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join...
Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon: Floppy Bottom
Five or Flop is back, and with the help of a special guest, we're kicking off Reading Rainbow with Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon! Are we more excited to discuss a book set in DC, or an adaptation starring Jonathan Bailey? Listen and find out!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give...
Somehow Five AND Flop: HBO's Dear America Film Adaptations
It's the final bonus episode of Season 3, and it's a special one- we're watching two half-hour long short film adaptations of So Far From Home and Cleopatra!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
...
Flop for Making Us Cry: Watching Ashes in the Snow
We're back with a far less happy movie adaptation. We're watching Ashes in the Snow, the movie version of Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys! Join us for a good cry and more identifying where we know the cast from.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow...
